Penn State Forum

Penn State Forum

In recognition of its 100th anniversary, AAUW State College, an organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research, has established the AAUW State College Centennial Speaker Endowment at Penn State. The $100,000 endowment will help underwrite the costs of bringing speakers who have made significant contributions to women’s equity to the Penn State Forum Speaker Series.

Penn State alumna Shirley M. Malcom, head of education and human resources at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, spoke on "Science, Technology and Possibility," during the Penn State Forum March 22 on the University Park campus.

"War is fought on a number of different levels -- on the soldier's level, the general's level, etc. When nations go to war, it's whole peoples -- everyone is involved. Everybody is involved, whether you choose to be or not." -- Carol Reardon, the George Winfree Professor of American History and 2015-16 Penn State laureate, at the Penn State Forum on Nov. 19.

"One of the nicest things about being the archivist is sitting as the chair of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, which is a granting agency within the National Archives. So for the first time in my professional career, I'm giving away money instead of begging for it."

— David Ferriero, archivist of the United States, at the Penn State Forum, held today (Dec. 4) at the Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus.

"I hope, I hope, I pray that whatever you do, whatever it is that you love, in life, I hope that you can have the courage to reach out and get it, and do it, and make your life rich. I hope that you can feel worthy."

--Artist Beverly McIver, Suntrust Endowed Chair Professor of Art at North Carolina Central University, speaking on April 19 about her lifelong journey as an artist and the challenges she faced with feeling worthy of her artistic success. McIver's intensely personal paintings examine racial, gender, social and occupational identities.

McIver was the ninth and final speaker in the 2012-13 Penn State Speaker Forum Series, held at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel at University Park.

"She said, 'Well, this may be the area of graphic design that we're going to have to steer you away from,' and then she went on for what seemed like hours, but I'm sure was just a few minutes, on why it wasn't working well and what could be done to improve it. And I was mortified. But she was right, she was very good teacher, and I got a wonderful education from here at Penn State."

"I have seen, time and time again -- most recently with a study with the Army in studying combat medics -- that there is amazing transformation as a result of these adversities, that there is every reason to believe that everyone can overcome a traumatic event. So the notion of this adversity isn't a horrible, bad thing without some advantages."

-- Charles Figley, Paul Henry Kurzweg Distinguished Chair in Disaster Mental Health and founding member of the Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy at Tulane University. Figley spoke at the Penn State Forum luncheon today (March 19) at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel on the topic, "The Trauma Paradox: Lessons of Adversity and Transformation."

"The international community at the end of the decade had no trust in us [the United States Olympic Committee], no desire to work with us, and when you humiliate the president of the United States on the global stage, clearly restoring relations was at the top of our list and our new CEO's list. And more important than that, than all of this, even though these are incredible things that needed to be done, all at once, we had to reaffirm our strong brand because that is what we are about -- we are a brand, and we are a power brand. And from the health and the strength of the brand, and our reputation, comes the building blocks for the future."

-- Lisa Baird, chief marketing officer of the United States Olympic Committee, who spoke at the Penn State Forum Speakers Series on "Building Brands in a Socially Networked World: The story of Team USA at the 2012 London Olympic Games" Oct. 10 at the The Nittany Lion Inn.

A new exhibit will offer a look at singer Kathy Mattea's upcoming celebration of Appalachian folk music and culture as well as Pennsylvania's coal history through December at the HUB-Robeson Galleries on Penn State's University Park campus. The exhibition, located in the display case on the first floor next to Heritage Hall in the HUB-Robeson Center, previews a performance and residency with two-time Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year Kathy Mattea as she makes her Center for the Performing Arts debut in a concert focused on music from her September album, "Calling Me Home."

Mattea will perform "Calling Me Home" at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1 in Eisenhower Auditorium. Tickets are available by phone at 814-863-0255 or at www.cpa.psu.edu. Mattea also is scheduled to speak at the Penn State Forum at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 31 in President's Hall at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. Tickets are required. For more information, go to www.pennstateforum.psu.edu.

The Penn State Forum Speaker Series is bringing a diverse lineup of speakers to the University Park campus this fall. Those attending will get to hear from a professor of American literature, a national investigative reporter, a singer/songwriter, a counterterrorism professional and others during the 2010-11 academic year. Stephen Lewis, co-director of AIDS-Free World, leads off the series on Sept. 3. Lewis will speak on "A Decidedly Sour View of the Progress of the Millennium Development Goals" in the President's Hall at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. AIDS-Free World is an international advocacy organization that works to promote more urgent and more effective global responses to HIV/AIDS.

"Back in 1900, there were about 2 million Catholics in Africa. By 2000, there were 130 million Catholics in Africa, which, as my colleague John Allen points out, represents a growth rate over the century of 6,700 percent.... By 2025 you're probably talking about 250 million, and by 2050 it should be around 330 million. It's around about the year 2035 that there are more Catholics in Africa than in Europe, and it's about 2060 that there should be more Catholics in Asia than in Europe. Why about that point? If you rank the continents in terms of number of Catholics, Europe is fifth in place ahead of Australia, oh, and Antarctica. Last year there were more Catholic baptisms in the Phillipines than in France, Spain, Italy and Poland combined, and that is going to increase, that kind of tendency. The Catholic Church is going south, but not in the sense that some of its critics think."

-- Philip Jenkins, Edwin Erle Sparks professor of humanities in the Department of History and Religious Studies at Penn State and distinguished senior fellow of the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University, speaking on the topic of "The World's Religious Map in 2050" on Thursday, April 29, at the Penn State Forum, held at the Nittany Lion Inn, University Park, Pa.

" 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan' obviously was actually a life-changing experience for me, to write that book. It changed how I approached writing. 'Peony in Love' changed how I approached writing even more. This is about the 17th-century women writers in China, and one of the things they believed was that you have to cut to the bone to write. That really has inspired me to keep going to that deep, harder place to get to."

-- Author and Los Angeles City Commissioner Lisa See, speaking today (April 5) on the topic "The Secrets We Keep: Finding the Lost Voice of China, Women and Our Families" at the Penn State Forum luncheon, held at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, University Park.

"What is it that has power in this world? Putting aside military strength for the moment, power comes -- think about it -- from this very boring word of 'regulation.' What a dull word. People looked at me like, 'Man, you are writing a book about regulation -- that is like the dullest thing on the planet.' And to some extent, if you approach it a certain way, it can be very dull. But there is enormous drama in regulation because there's conflict. There is conflict. There are interests on each side, and if you can get at those interests you can find the essential conflicts of our time through this world of regulation."

-- Mark Schapiro, editorial director of the Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit organization of journalists producing investigative stories for all media. Schapiro spoke today (Feb. 19) at the Penn State Forum on the topic of modern environmental power. His recent book, "Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power" investigates the response of U.S. business to the heightening of environmental standards in the European Union.

"As we go forward, security must be integrated into our everyday thinking. But in our society, we have to ensure that that security does not undermine the very basic differences between our society and others, which is the sanctity of human life, the Constitutional rights that we as a society have established our country upon, and which we must maintain in order to differentiate a civilized society against that which is, in fact, intended to destroy the civilization that we know of, and to return to a very medieval form of control of religion, control of culture, control of literature and the virtual enslavement of half the population, meaning the female half of the population. Those are the stakes that are involved."

-- Oliver "Buck" Revell, global business and security consultant and former Marine and FBI special agent, who discussed "Terrorism, the Current and Future Threat to America," during the Penn State Forum today (Dec. 8) at University Park. Revell served for five years as an officer and aviator in the U.S. Marine Corps, leaving active duty in 1964 as a captain. He then served 30 years as a special agent and senior executive of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1964-1994). In September 1987, Revell was placed in charge of a joint FBI/CIA/U.S. military operation (Operation Goldenrod) which led to the first apprehension overseas of an international terrorist. He is also author of the book "G-Man's Journal: A Legendary Career Inside the FBI -- From the Kennedy Assassination to the Oklahoma City Bombing."